Stream it now Amreeka 2009

 

Amreeka is very cute, a movie about immigrating to America rewritten for contemporary times.

A mother and son decide they may be better of to move to America than to continue to stay in the occupied West Bank that they are from. They take the chance as soon as it arrives. While going through customs the officers take what they think is a tin full of cookies unknowing it contained all the cash that they had to start over with. They move in with some relatives in Illinois and learn things are much different than the world they once knew and much harder they expected. Many of the people they meet are racist or just unwilling to give them a chance thinking they have something to do with the terrorist. They meet some nice people but America isn't as good as it sounds like.

I couldn't relate or connect with any of them the story is way to slow paced and uninteresting and filled with weak characters that make little impact. It drags along as if it is going to go somewhere when it doesn't. If fact I think I just said this in another one of my recent reviews. The weird thing is that I often enjoy stories of indifference, like one I saw last month called The Namesake which was really good but this one is not.

One of the things I found most troublesome about this film was the mis-communication problems and flip flopping between languages, it is meant to make it realistic but it only makes it confusing. They should have focused more on one plot theme. Instead they wander around from family to friends to work to school where will it go next I don't care. And of course there is the ending????? what does it mean, what happens to everyone. I don't know who to blame for this masterpiece of nonsense so I will blame them all. The acting is kind of weak, the story to jumpy and goes nowhere, and the directing is nothing special. I feel the Middle Eastern music was the only thing that pleasurable. This film was a waste of my time and yours if you watch this one. Definitely pass on this film.

I really do not understand the RT rating on this one I think the IMDB rating is more realistic 6.8 which still sounds high to me

4 wins & 8 nominations

84/100. Impressive performances from the entire cast, very convincingly acted. Nisreen Faour and Hiam Abbass are both excellent. It is a very moving and thought provoking story, very convincing. Excellent writing. Sensitive and a beautifully done film.

An enjoyable movie let down by an unfullfilling ending.

I think this was a decent and nice view of immigration and the struggle that comes with adapting to a new culture. It is also an example of how the stereotypes with which we represent the world in our heads can really harm those others we fail to "really" see. I though the movie was a bit cliche at moments, but in general not a bad movie.

The harsh realities of being an immigrant in America...of Arab decent...during these turbulent times. Definitely worth a watch.

a very poignant and touching account of human spirit in hard times

"What about the tomatoes? How could you forget the tomatoes?" This was a good movie, a touching movie, but a movie about the hardships that immigrants face when they move to America. When an extremest of on race does something, every single person of that race is branded the same. Credentials in one country are slim to none in America or anywhere else. Accusations fly wildly just because of their background. The lives of the characters in this movie drastically change as they fight to be appreciated while war affects their homeland.

The cinematography is good and the portrayal of life in the Gaza strip is realistic but the story is muddled and never captured my interest. There were no characters to love or hate and things sort of just plodded along with no climax until the end.

An endearing family drama-comedy that showcases Nisreen Faour as an extremely likable working mother that slowly overcomes her problems in a newly visited land.